Written answers

Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Employment Rights Issues

Photo of Brendan  RyanBrendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation further to Parliamentary Question No 275 of 19 June 2012 if he will confirm his plans to carry out an independent inquiry as recommended by the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association; if such an inquiry will be open and transparent and if he will make a priority of this matter [37814/12]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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In 2010, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (and IMPACT acting on behalf of their airline pilot members in Ryanair) submitted a complaint to the Committee on Freedom of Association of the International Labour Organisation that Ireland was not, in several respects, in conformity with the provisions of ILO Convention No. 98 - Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949.

In its findings, the ILO Committee did not uphold any of these complaints but raised a number of concerns, reflected in three recommendations, as follows:

a) As the information available to the ILO Committee is insufficient to determine whether the alleged offer by Ryanair of conditional benefits to employees provided that the company would not be required to enter into a collective bargaining relationship with the union, the Committee requests the Government to ensure that the protection available against anti-union discrimination would adequately cover such acts, including through a thorough review of the protective measures with the social partners concerned.

b) The Committee requests the Government to carry out an independent inquiry without delay into the alleged acts of employer interference in order to establish the facts of this specific case and, if necessary, to take the necessary measures to ensure full respects of the principles of freedom of association.

c) Noting the commitment on collective bargaining in the Programme for Government, the Committee invites the Government, in full consultation with the social partners, to review the existing framework and consider any appropriate measures, including legislative, so as to ensure respect for the freedom of association and collective bargaining principles set out in its conclusions, including through the review of the mechanisms available with a view to promoting machinery for voluntary negotiation between employers’ and workers’ organisations for the determination of terms and conditions of employment.

I welcome the fact that the ILO report did not find Ireland to be in breach of its obligations under ILO Conventions in respect of collective bargaining rights. Neither did the ILO find that a resolution of the difficulties arising over the Ryanair judgement would require the introduction of a legal regime of mandatory trade union recognition.

Accordingly, recommendations (a) and (c) have been accepted and will be addressed in the context of the commitment in the Programme for Government to reform the current law on employees’ right to engage in collective bargaining (the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2001), so as to ensure compliance by the State with recent judgements of the European Court of Human Rights.

As regards the Committee’s recommendation for an independent enquiry, the Ryanair case has been litigated to a conclusion. In light of the judgment of the Supreme Court, it was open to the parties to resume the hearing before the Labour Court or, indeed, to make fresh complaints to the Labour Court. However, it would be constitutionally inappropriate for the Government to reopen matters by seeking to establish facts that were not established before the courts and a fortiori to take measures that the courts did not take.

In addition, the power of the Government to undertake an inquiry is contained in section 38(2) of the Industrial Relations Act 1990, which allows the relevant Minister to request the Labour Relations Commission or the Labour Court or another person or body to conduct an inquiry where the Minister is of the opinion that a particular trade dispute is a dispute of special importance. However, in this case, the Supreme Court has determined that it had not been established that there was a trade dispute. This precludes the Minister from requesting an inquiry under section 38(2) of the 1990 Act. Accordingly, this recommendation has not been accepted. I have advised the International Labour Organisation of our position on the recommendations.

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